dedicated htpc with no swapfile (1 Viewer)

[smiler3k]

Im thinking of disabling virtual memory on my MP HTPC wich only runs MP 24/7.
It is a sempron 1200-le (2.1Ghz) wih 2Gb DDR2-800.
The idea is to reduce HDD activity.
Any thoughts on this.

 

[geov]

I run MediaPortal without virtual memory on 2Gb, so it should not be a problem for you....just make sure you limit the amount of memory used by the SQL-database if you use the TV-Server.

 

[SpudR]

Nuking the swapfile is a contentious issue - some say it speeds up the system, others say not...
The truth is probably somewhere in between the two extremes, and that is that you MAY get a performance increase but at the cost of stability.
M$ recommend a swapfile of 1.5x your system memory - they do this for a reason, not for fun!
In my experience though (I have a 'test' PC at the office for stuff like this - 4Gb Ram) disabling the swapfile gave about a 2% increase in operation speed but I got LOTS of 'out of memory' errors.
I guess it's the price we pay fr M$'s policy of backwards compatibility.

just set the file to 'system managed' and forget it!

 

[smiler3k]

To geov how do i limit sql database memory use

 

[craigparris1]

Hi smiler3k,

First, you need to make sure you have SQL Management Studio installed (Express, if you're running SQL Express). Then within the properties of the SQL Server itself (just right-click the server once you've connected to it), you can set the maximum amount of memory used. None of the tables in the MediaPortal database are likely to ever be very big, so if you've got 2GB in your machine, max 512MB for SQL should be more than enough. If it turns out to be not enough, you can always bump it up a bit anway.

Cheers,
Craig

p.s. if you have SQL Express installed, the management studio is not included by default - you need to do a search on Microsoft downloads for SQL Express Management Studio. If, on the other hand, you have MySQL, then I don't know how to limit memory use with that.

 

[geov]

Hi smiler3k

I dont think you need to set a memory limit for MySQL, only for SQL Express....which is the one many of us use as the default...

 

[smiler3k]

Thanks geov
Very helpfull.

 

[revs]

How about getting a USB Flashdrive and putting the swapfile on that?

I put my Swapfile on a seperate hard drive that also holds the timeshifting files. seems to work well.

 

[SpudR]

Swapfiles work best when split across drives - I have the recommended size for 4Gb (1.5 x 1024mb x 4 = 6144Mb) split across 2 physical drives (3072Mb each)
2 spindles means the system can write across both drives at the same time.
It works MUCH better if you spread the file across a full RAID array though...

The thoughput on USB 2.0 drive is only 480mbps - SATA is at 150MBs - SATA 300 is at 300MBs (note the mb = megaBITS, MB = megaBYTES)
Putting the swapfile on a USB will SLOW the system, if it has to use it (and despite LOTS of memory it WILL use it)
1mb = 0.125MB :. 480mbps = 60MBs.

Get SATA 300 drives! RAID them for performance

Sometimes I realise just how sad I am...

 

[mdbarber]

The main area that disabling the swap file improves is long term performance, by enabling a better defrag and decreasing fragmentation in the first place.
My htpc(2Gb) only runs mp and associated libraries with an av package and has never had the swap file enabled but have yet to see an out of memory message over the 9 mths current system has been going.